Laurel Wreath
by Roby Carr
Summary: Omi, Raimundo, Kimiko, and Clay are finally used to the dojo until a new girl named Laurel Nee shows up claiming to be the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning. Is she going to help the Dragons retrieve several new ShenGongWu, or is she a lying backstabber?
1. 1: Enter the Dragon

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part One: _Enter the Dragon_

Dedicated to **_Haunted Flower_**, who got me incredibly into Xiaolin Showdown fanfiction. I adore your work!

-----

"Another Xiaolin Dragon?" Omi questioned incredulously.

"That's what I heard."

"But there are only four dragons! And we are them!" He blinked and looked over at his three friends, Kimiko, Clay and Raimundo. They all shared his confused look and Kimiko glanced back, shrugging.

"None of you guys are leaving, right?" she asked, her gaze darting to the two boys.

"Not a chance Ah'm goin' back to Texas," Clay replied and Raimundo nodded, voicing his agreement.

"Yeah, girl! I'm not in that much trouble yet!"

"So how could there be another Xiaolin dragon, Kimiko?" Omi said and turned to their source, who simply shrugged.

"Look, I'm just repeating what I heard Master Fung telling the others. Maybe I got it wrong, but it sure didn't sound like there was any chance it could be interpreted another way," she told him, shaking out her high pigtails.

"Master Fung would tell us if we have a new student at the dojo. He would want us to teach the new student our techniques," the short monk declared as though it finalized it, "Kimiko, you should not be be saying things if you don't know. Master Fung wouldn't hide this from us."

"Yeah... Ah guess yer righ', Omi. Why would Master Fung not tell us 'bout the new guy?"

"Mmm... I bet he'd be really cute if there was a new guy. And that's good. I don't think I can deal with Rai thinking he's the hottest hottie around here anymore," Kimiko murmured dreamily as she envisioned the way her Prince Charming would look, "Rai needs somebody to put him in his place!"

"Oh, c'mon, Kimiko! You know I'm hot! Man, if we were back in Brazil right now, there'd be girls hanging all over me and you'd be wishing you took the chance when you had it," he told her quite matter-of-factly. Kimiko rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Rai. Whatever you want to think! I'm going to go play some Phoenix Hunter 3. Does anybody want to play two player?"

"Ah will, Kimiko. Ya've gotta teach mah how to play first, though. Ah don' know how yet," Clay replied with his charming half-smile.

"Yeah... I'm gonna watch you guys play," Raimundo said, "You coming, Omi?"

"No, Raimundo... I think I will practice so that in the event that we do have a new student arriving, I will be prepared to show him the strings," Omi replied and Raimundo shook his head.

"Show him the _ropes_, Omi."

"Oops. Sorry. I will come and join the game when I have completed my training," the small monk told Raimundo and the lanky Brazilian boy shrugged.

"Whatever. See you later."

"I will see you also, Raimundo."

The Brazilian headed back towards the dojo, knowing that without a doubt Kimiko would be hooking up two of her Gamekids so that she and Clay could play in double-player mode. Poor Clay. Once Kimiko started playing, she'd be all over that Gamekid and not even Raimundo could beat her at Phoenix Hunter 3. Kimiko was the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire and she definitely showed it on that game.

-----

Loud punk-rock music blasted from a Jack-bot in Wuya's lair the next day, shaking the walls. The only occupant of the room where this was happening, however, wasn't disturbed in the slightest as she rocked out. Her dancing was awful - a mix of eighties' club dancing and ballet - but she didn't mind this either. Or else she didn't know she sucked so badly. Either way, she was happy with the 'mad-at-the-world' music and was even happier when Jack Spicer stalked into the room and started screaming at her.

"WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY JACK-BOT!" he yelled, stopping the music. She turned to face him, a disappointed pout on her pretty face. She looked like a little girl who'd had her candy taken away. "Wuya!" he whined and the spirit zoomed in, also searching for the loud source of her annoyance, "Why can't we just get rid of Laurel? She keeps taking my stuff!"

The spirit looked furious, "You'd better be able to pull everything you promised me off or else you won't see the light of day again!" Wuya cackled evilly and zoomed out. Both Laurel and Jack paused in their argument to roll their eyes, sharing only one thing - their complete and utter wonder that Wuya was ever actually evil. Wuya acted more senile.

"Stop taking my Jack-bots!" Jack demanded and tugged at his robot, trying to pull it out of the room.

"Oh, c'mon Johnny-boy! It isn't like I broke it or anything!" the blonde-haired girl replied, toying with her golden curls. She was pretty enough, the all-American girl-next-door and had the easy, playful smile of a naive little girl who'd forgotten to do her homework.

"Don't call me my real name!" Jack told her, turning and glaring full-force.

"Why not?" Laurel asked, pouting again at the wanna-be world ruler, "It's a perfectly respectable name and you'll need respect to rule the world. John Spicer has a much better ring to it than Jack Spicer. Those kids you don't like will probably be more afraid of you if you have a nice respectable name like John. And Johnny is such an adorable nickname too."

"I'm not adorable! I'm evil! I'm an evil genius and I don't care what those losers think, because they aren't evil geniuses, are they?"

"I guess not..."

"Don't you have to be there in an hour?" Jack asked, blinking down at his watch.

Laurel flushed, "Whoops! I totally forgot about that! I had better go pack my stuff up, huh? Bye, Jack!" The small blonde hugged him promptly, much to Jack's annoyance, and scampered out of the large room, leaving the evil genius and his robot in peace.

"One more hour..." Jack muttered to himself, "One more hour and she doesn't stay here anymore."

-----

"Hey y'all," Clay announced, pausing in the doorframe of Kimiko's bedroom where she and Raimundo were locked in a heated match of Egg Wars on two of Kimiko's Gamekids, "Dojo's been spreadin' the news tha' Master Fung wants us t' git out front so he can tell us somethin'."

"Do you think that we were right about you-know-what from you-know-when?" Kimiko asked as she pressed the 'Pause' button and looked over at Clay. He shared the same confused expression and was obviously thinking about the conversation the four Dragon-in-trainings had had the day before about the possibility of a new Xiaolin Dragon. Raimundo however, looked like he had no idea what Kimiko was talking about.

"No..." he said slowly, "I-don't-know-what from I-don't-know-when. What are you two talking about?" He set down his Gamekid and helped Kimiko up and as she repeated the conversation from the day before to the Brazilian boy, the trio began making their way towards the dojo exit.

"Omi?" Clay asked suddenly, "What's wrong, partner?" He was staring down at Omi, who was frozen in shock on the front step of the dojo.

"G- g- g- g-" he stammered, unable to complete the entire word.

"Oh my gosh..." Raimundo whispered as he pushed the door open, "It's a... a..."

"A GIRL!" all three of the male Dragons said together and Kimiko grinned.

"Awesome! Finally, someone who uses her brain!" she exclaimed and hopped down to dojo steps to where Master Fung waited patiently, a girl hovering half-hidden behind him.

She was pretty enough, with golden-blonde curls to just below her shoulders and pale skin, her nose sprinkled with freckles. Her eyes were bright blue and she wore a pair of khaki capris and a lemon-yellow tank-top with illegible white writing on it. Her shoes were purple Converse high-top sneakers and silver bangles clinked on her wrists when she moved her arms.

"Hi..." she greeted quietly, still not moving from behind Master Fung. Apparently, the two handsome boys, the incredibly short, bald monk, and the hyper Japanese girl were not what she was expecting when she had agreed to come to this dojo. Maybe she been expecting for a few quiet old men like Master Fung to greet her. But certainly not this.

"My name's Kimiko," the black-haired girl explained with a big smile, "I'm the other girl here at the dojo. I'm the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire from Japan. This is Raimundo and Clay." She gestured to the two boys as they approached, getting over their shock easily and smiling at the girl. Kimiko continued talking, "Rai is from Brazil and he's the Xiaolin Dragon of Wind. Clay is from Texas in the States and he's the Xiaolin Dragon of Earth. The little guy standing on the steps and staring bluntly is Omi, the Xiaolin Dragon of Water. He's been here a lot longer than the rest of us."

"I'm-" The girl paused to take a deep breath, still mildly timid. Everyone was being so friendly and welcoming. She certainly hadn't expected that. "My name is Laurel Nee and I'm from Los Angeles, California in the States. I'm supposed to be the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning."

"Hey _menina_," Raimundo said easily, "It's nice to meet you."

"Y'all are gonna have a good time here at the dojo," Clay told her in his Southern drawl.

Laurel flushed and smiled up at the two boys and Kimiko, all of whom were taller than her. "Yeah," she agreed, her smile widening as she stepped out from behind Master Fung and took Clay's offered hand, shaking it, "I think I will have a good time here."

'_A good time..._' she thought and Wuya's instructions resounded in her head once again, '_A really, really good time..._'

-----

In the next chapter of **Laurel Wreath** -

_"Aren' ya goin' t' unpack?" a voice asked, startling Laurel. She turned to see Clay leaning casually against the frame of her door._

_Laurel smiled at him. She liked the cowboy. Not only was he the only other person at the dojo from the States, he was also one of the sweetest people she'd ever met. He acted like she could come to him about anything._

_"Of course not," she said in her normal quiet tone, "I'm only going to stay here for three days. Master Fung only asked me to give this Xiaolin-thing a try and I really want to get back home to my family and friends. To tell you the truth, Clay..." She paused. "I wasn't ever really planning on staying. I'm only here to be polite to Master Fung."_

_-----_

_"Please come back, Laurel," Kimiko begged, "We came all this way just to ask you to come back!"_

_Laurel looked both annoyed and shocked at this. "NO!" she replied rather suddenly, "Why can't you leave me alone?" She slammed the door in their face and Kimiko glanced over at the three males and Dojo._

_"Maybe she will be hanging tighter when we return?" Omi suggested in a disappointed tone._

_"Hanging _looser_, Omi," Raimundo corrected with a sigh, knowing the there probably wouldn't be any return._

_-----_

_The Dragons were had just left the building when they heard a loud scream. A familiar scream._

_"Laurel!" Clay yelled, looking up at the building, "C'mon partners!"_

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n; Well? How did you like it? I know that the way all the Dragons are treating Laurel is incredibly Mary-Sueish, but seriously, think about it. All of the Xiaolin Warriors are really nice and welcoming and when Omi heard about Rai, Clay, and Kimiko coming, he was excited. I can only imagine that the other kids would treat a newcomer the same way. It's just the way I perceive them, being really good people and trusting easily. That's probably going to come up a lot in the future of this fic, so go ahead and flame about it. I won't care.

**REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC!**

And again for good measure...

**REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC!**

I really do mean it. Whether you're simply reviewing to say that my fic stinks and I should take it down before you smash my head in with a mallet, or if you just want to give me some props for a good beginning and support my writing, please review for me. It's just the polite thing to do after reading someone's fanfic. If you review mine, I'll review yours. Come on, it's only fair!

Love to you all (especially Omi lovers!).

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	2. 2: The Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By_ Roby Carr  
_Part Two: _The Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning_

-----

Laurel had found that just in the span of one afternoon and one morning, she was instantly enraptured by the kindness and welcoming the four young Dragons and Master Fung displayed for her. How could Jack and Wuya be right about them trying to stop the good cause Wuya was trying to further? They were all so nice... But Jack and Wuya would have never lied to her. That would have been wrong. Without a doubt, everyone at the dojo was just pretending to be nice. That was exactly what Wuya had said would happen. They were the liars!

But still...

Laurel found herself smiling broadly in a rather foolish and girly way as her mind traveled into the memories of just that morning. Raimundo and Clay had made both her and Kimiko laugh for at least half an hour as they continued to banter all throughout breakfast over Rai's interesting habit of picking the marshmallows out of his Lucky Charms before eating it.

"It's even more 'magically delicious' this way," Rai had protested when Clay had tried to get him to eat just one spoonful of Lucky Charms with the marshmallows in it. Rai still refused to eat it.

That was what she liked especially about this group. That they could have playful arguments over breakfast and by mid-morning training be best friends once again. Currently, the others were all in Kimiko's room because it was the one set up with her video games. From what Laurel had gathered, this was the constant meeting place when they weren't training.

Laurel turned, heading to the one window in her room that looked out onto most of the rest of the dojo. How could anything so full of friendship and life be so evil?

"Aren' ya goin' t' unpack?" a voice asked, startling Laurel. She turned to see Clay leaning casually against the frame of her door.

Laurel smiled at him. She liked the cowboy. Not only was he the only other person at the dojo from the States, he was also one of the sweetest people she'd ever met. He acted like she could come to him about anything.

"Of course not," she said in her normal quiet tone, "I'm only going to stay here for three days. Master Fung only asked me to give this Xiaolin-thing a try and I really want to get back home to my family and friends. To tell you the truth, Clay..." She paused. "I wasn't ever really planning on staying. I'm only here to be polite to Master Fung."

"What're y' talkin' 'bout, Laurel?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow and pulling off his hat as he entered Laurel's bedroom. When he was reared down in a small town in Texas, he'd been taught to always take off his hat before entering a lady's bedroom and, though he no longer bothered when entering Kimiko's room, he still wanted to make a good impression on Laurel.

"I'm already homesick..." she whispered quietly as she glanced back out the window, "For you guys, this dojo has become your home, but I just want to go back to Los Angeles. I miss my friends and my family and the shopping mall."

Clay walked over to join her out the window. Following her gaze, he realized he could easily understand where Laurel was coming from. He had been feeling the same things when he first came to the dojo, not knowing anyone and hating the fact that he was already stereotyped as the big, dumb cowboy. He'd wanted to go back to Texas in his first few weeks at the dojo too, before Rai became his best friend and Kimiko and Omi became his good friends too. He'd wanted to go back and see his girlfriend back in the States, Paige, and especially when he turned sixteen a week after arriving at the dojo he felt alone. At least he did until Rai forced him to come back behind the dojo and he realized that everyone had gathered to throw him a surprise party. That was when he started feeling like he belonged.

But they only had two more days to convince Laurel to stay apparently. She was missing the patience the Clay had, and she was far more emotional than the calm cowboy.

"Y'all should stay fer a while longer," Clay attempted anyway, his efforts useless. Golden-blonde curls bounced as Laurel shook her head violently.

"No. I'd rather just go home... Maybe I'll return someday, but now isn't a good time," Laurel explained, "I'm just starting high school soon and I want to be there with my friends." Clay found himself understanding even more and in his usual way, he knew what she needed to at least feel better.

He embraced the smaller girl tightly and when he finally pulled away, he smiled comfortingly. "Y'all should know tha' you've got friends here at the dojo too. We ain' gonna see ya go tha' easily. We all care 'bout ya, Laurel. So don' you worry your pretty lil' head over this, ya hear?"

Laurel couldn't help giggling as she carefully pulled the cowboy hat from Clay's hands and leaned up on her tip-toes to place it back on his head.

"As long as you promise not to worry your pretty lil' head over taking off your hat when you come in my room, okay?" she asked playfully, smiling at the sweet boy.

"Fair deal," Clay replied, nodding, "Ya'll wanna go play some Phoenix Hunter 3. Kimiko jus' finished teachin' mah how t' play."

Laurel nodded back. "Sure," she said quietly, "That sounds like fun. I'll race you."

"On three," Clay agreed, taking a starting stance, "One... two..."

"Go!" Laurel shouted and shot forward. Clay grinned and chased after her, accusing her of cheating.

Things were going to be okay.

-----

Raimundo sat on the steps on the dojo, still panting slightly from his training. He was only planning on resting for a minute but the moment he'd sat down he realized how sore he was and how long he'd been out in the sun. Maybe this was going to be an end for today instead of a break.

The wind was blowing softly and he noticed that the sun was already setting, casting a reddish-orange glow over the entire dojo and its training grounds. Kimiko would've called it beautiful. Raimundo called it cool.

Running a hand through his sweat soaked brown hair, the Brazilian was frustrated with himself for knowing that he still hadn't entirely mastered the form Jae-Sang. Heaven and Earth. He'd meant to finish it so that tomorrow he could show Master Fung and then he'd finally be able to start using the bo that Master Fung just left leaning against the wall in one of the rooms of the dojo. He'd been waiting for a while and no one else used that bo either. It was just begging him to use it.

"I didn't know you were still out here, Ricardo. I thought everyone was already inside for tonight. They say it's going to rain tonight."

"_Raimundo_," he corrected as he turned around, ready to glare at Kimiko. Instead, he found a flushing blonde girl from Los Angeles standing in the middle of the doorway dressed in the dojo's standard female uniform. It clung to her curves nicely, just as Kimiko's did on her and Raimundo couldn't resist teasing Laurel a little, "Man, _menina_! You look _gooood_!" He grinned playfully at her and offered her a hand, pulling her down on the steps next to him when she took it.

"Sorry about getting your name wrong. I'm not very good with names. Sometimes I have trouble remembering my own name," she was flushing even harder after Raimundo's flirting and kept tugging at the edges of the short skirt. It felt much higher than what she was used to, "Kimiko let me borrow this. She says everyone wears these around the dojo."

"Yeah, but us guys are lucky we don't have to wear the skirts." Pausing for a second, Raimundo grinned. "I guess everyone is lucky I don't have to wear it. Trust me, I should not be showing off my thighs."

Laurel giggled and smiled before looking away at the empty grounds.

"I think I've seen you before." Raimundo frowned as he realized this. Laurel lived in Los Angeles, California in the States and he lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And he'd lived there all his life until coming to the dojo.

Laurel looked up and cocked her head to the side, "I doubt it. We've been in different hemispheres, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Raimundo agreed, though there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, "I've got it! Your smile reminded me of-"

"I always remind people of..." Laurel interrupted in a sing-song tone, still soft, "Who is she?"

"She died," the Brazilian boy said slowly, unsure if he should continue. He'd never told even Clay about this and Clay was his best friend. Finally, he settled on just revealing her name - not much, but still enough. "Her name was April."

"Oh. Sorry about your friend," she replied just as slowly, looking more timid on such an uneasy topic. She barely even know Raimundo...

"You look familiar."

"Like your dead girlfriend," she repeated, glancing up at the taller boy and pulling at her skirt again.

Raimundo shook his head, "Only when you smile but I know I've seen you somewhere else. Ever been to Rio de Janeiro?" Laurel shook her head and Raimundo shrugged, "Maybe I'm wrong."

There wasn't much talking for the next few minutes as Raimundo's mind focused on past events and on April. The dirt on her grave was still new when he had to leave Brazil to head out to the dojo. For a week or so, he'd been pretty bitter about it, making fun out of insulting anyone he could find in Portuguese. It was Clay who'd changed it all. Despite the fact that Kimiko and Dojo became furious and Omi was always annoyed when Raimundo did it, Clay took the teasing stoically and would simply smile at him when Raimundo finished.

"Don' worry 'bout it, partner..." Clay'd told him after being shouted at in Portuguese one time, "I'm not gonna git angry so you're just proddin' a dead bull." Confused by this, it took Raimundo a couple of days to find out why Clay had never been annoyed. It had never occurred to Raimundo that Clay might be having a tough time too. That his sixteenth birthday was coming up and he had no friends to celebrate with. So Raimundo finally did something nice. He threw Clay a surprise birthday party and from that day on he found himself slowly feeling better. April was gone, but now there were Clay, Omi, and Kimiko. April couldn't be replaced but the others weren't trying to do that. They were just helping fill up the empty spaces she'd left behind.

"You're leaving in two days, right?" Raimundo asked, surprising himself even more than he'd surprised Laurel. He hadn't even been thinking about that when the question popped out, "Clay told me that you're not going to stay here at the dojo."

"Yeah, that's the truth. I'm going back to Los Angeles," Laurel replied.

"You know that we want you to stay, right _menina_?" Raimundo tried, "You don't need to worry about it. We all felt a little off in our first few weeks here, but once you get used to it, the dojo's alright."

"I'm not worried about that. I just don't belong here, okay?" the blonde girl said, getting a little angry, "Why do all of you just keep pushing it? I want to go home! I gave the dojo a chance and I don't like it! You can't change my mind!" She got up quickly, bent on heading out of there, but Raimundo grabbed her hand.

"Laurel," he said softly, "We aren't going to make you stay if you don't want to. It's your choice and we know that. We aren't going to force you to choose us. I know where you come from."

At these words, she relaxed visibly and glanced down at the Brazilian. "Yeah..." she replied, "I know. I'm just homesick, that's all."

Raimundo just smiled and let go of her hand, "Night, Laurel. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

"Yeah..." Laurel replied as she headed for the door, "Goodnight Rodriguez."

"_Raimundo_!" he called.

"Whoops! Sorry, Raimundo! I won't forget again," she called back and Raimundo could almost hear Laurel flush bright crimson.

He really did hope that Laurel would end up staying. She would be an interesting addition to the team.

-----

Jack Spicer looked up from where he was closely examining the robot that Laurel had messed up. Wuya was currently grumping around.

"Why hasn't that girl gotten the Shen-Gong-Wu for us yet? We should have the Shen-Gong-Wu by now!"

Jack was also grumping, but for different reasons. He just couldn't figure out where Laurel had screwed up his robot so it couldn't fly anymore. They was something wrong, he knew that. He just couldn't figure out what. He hated when this happened! He was an evil genius! He wasn't supposed to not know what was going wrong! Nothing was supposed to go wrong!

"Is this working?"

A hand-held radio box lay forgotten on the table but it crackled to life and Jack remembered why it was there. Laurel had the other one and she was supposed to communicate on it.

"Well?" Wuya shrieked, zooming down to the radio box, "Do you have the Shen-Gong-Wu yet?"

"Quiet down!" Laurel's voice hissed, "Someone might hear you and then I'll never get you the Shen-Gong-Wu!"

"What'd you do to my robot?" Jack demanded to know, picking up the radio box, "How come I can get it to work?"

"I don't know. I tweaked a few wires, that's all. I just sort of messed around until it started playing music. But I'm here to give you my report. I've gotten into the dojo and they trust me, I'm going to head to Los Angeles and my 'home' in two days and I expect them to follow me. If they do, I'll buzz you to attack and you can pretend to lose so I can get away with the Dragons. It they don't follow me, I'll just return saying that you attacked me and I don't want my family or my friends to be put into danger."

"How deliciously evil!" Wuya cackled.

"What do you mean?" Laurel's voice asked, "I thought they were the evil ones."

"They are, dearie," Wuya told her, trying to cover her tracks, "They're deliciously evil and we need you to help us stop them."

"Over and out," Laurel's voice crackled and the radio box suddenly stopped making noise.

"You almost blew that for us!" Wuya accused Jack, "You almost told her that we were the evil ones! You must be the worst help ever! Dolt!"

Jack rolled his eyes and went back to working on his robot.

-----

"You're really leaving?" Kimiko asked. All four Dragons and Dojo had come with Laurel and Master Fung to the airport where Laurel was scheduled to catch her flight back to Los Angeles. Dojo was hidden under Clay's hat.

"I just need to be at home for now," Laurel said softly. She didn't squirm when Kimiko hugged her, but instead hugged back. She repeated the process with Omi and Raimundo who both wished her the best in life and did what they could to try to convince her to stay with them. She paused at Clay though and took longer to hug him, looking up and smiling. "I wish you were my big brother," she told him and Clay smiled back, hugging her again.

"Y'all should know tha' if Ah was yer big brother, Ah'd be givin' ya noogies all day long," he warned her playfully and ruffled her golden-blonde curls. Laurel laughed and clutched Clay's shoulder's, pulling his down a little so she could lift up his hat a little.

"Bye Dojo," she whispered, "You take care you these guys, okay? If I hear that anyone's been getting hurt, I'm blaming you."

Under the hat, the tiny dragon gave her a small grin and she set the hat back down, letting Clay straighten up once again.

"I'm going to miss you, Laurel," Omi told her again, "I wish I could have shown you more of the strings before you left the dojo."

"_Ropes_, Omi," Raimundo corrected for the second time that week, "The phrase is 'show you the _ropes_'."

"Oops."

"Flight 575, Northwest Airlines is now boarding at Gate C17," the PA system announced and Laurel glanced down at her ticket.

"That's me," she told them all and gave them a bittersweet smile, "Bye Kimiko! Bye Dojo! Bye Omi! Bye Clay! Bye Master Fung! Bye Roberto!"

"_Raimundo_!" the boy in question corrected in frustration and Laurel giggled.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to get it wrong one last time."

_One last time._

The meaning of her words hit the four Dragons like a sack of potatoes. Already, they had gotten used to seeing Laurel every morning and they now expected her to get Raimundo's name wrong at least once a day. But she wasn't going to be around anymore. It was just them now.

"Laurel!" Kimiko cried, but the blonde had already disappeared out onto the plane, "Laurel's gone..."

"Yeah partner..."

"I'm gonna miss that _menina_," Raimundo admitted, "Master Fung, can't we go after her one more time? We know what city she's in."

_The Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning._

"Perhaps, Raimundo. Perhaps, this is a time when we must go out of our way to acquire something even more important than a Shen-Gong-Wu. Perhaps, this is the time to acquire a Dragon."

-----

"So this is L.A.," Kimiko stared down from Dojo's back, "I always thought it would seem bigger than this."

"Where does Laurel live?" Omi asked, blinking up at Clay. The cowboy glanced down at the paper he held in his hand and took a moment before answering.

"Some apartmen' buildin', partner. Lincoln Park Apartmen' Complex. Master Fung didn' write down what her apartmen' number was."

"Maybe he didn't know," Kimiko suggested, "We can just ask around. I bet someone will know where Laurel lives!"

When they arrived at Lincoln Park Complex and entered, Kimiko grinned at the sight of a reception desk. A gray-haired man sat at the desk, hunched over a piece of paper.

"Hey, man." As they approached, the man looked up without a sound and Raimundo ventured the question on everyone's mind. "Do you know which apartment Laurel Nee lives in?"

"Laurel?" he repeated and nodded rather automatically, "A real neat kid. Number 419 on the fourth floor. Do you want me to call her down?" He gestured to the phone on his desk with a jerky motion.

"No!" Kimiko replied a little too quickly, worried that Laurel might not want to see them, "I mean, don't worry about it. We want to surprise her."

"Alright," the man replied and hunched over his magazine again. Raimundo elbowed Kimiko for her mistake and she elbowed him back as the four Dragons headed to the elevators.

"Did that guy seem a little weird to you guys?" Dojo hissed from under Clay's hat and Omi nodded.

"Yes, that was a strange encounter."

"Aw, partner. He's an ol' man. It ain' his fault if he's a lil' bit strange," Clay said, pressing his hat back down, "Y'all stay hidden, Dojo. If somebody sees ya, we're gonna have a problem on our hands."

"I guess you're right..." the little dragon replied and returned to his hiding spot as the Dragons boarded the elevator. The moment the elevator door closed, Jack Spicer climbed out from under the desk.

"Good job, Chameleon-bot," he said, "Now you get up into Laurel's 'apartment' and pretend to be her friend. Go!" The robot complied, changing form from the old man to its normal robot self to a light brown-haired girl. It left the building as took off, heading up to the open window where Laurel was waiting for it.

-----

It didn't take long for the Dragons to find Laurel's apartment on the fourth floor. It was the one with the door flung open and Avril Lavigne's song 'Sk8er Boi' blasting from a stereo inside.

"Uh, Laurel?" Omi called, glancing in the apartment.

Just barely visible from the doorway was the living room in which two girls were hanging out. One was Laurel; the other had light brown hair and was probably one of her friends. As Laurel sung along to the music in a highly off-key voice and danced, her friend was laughing and eating ramen noodles from a bowl.

"Mom! Dad!" she shouted, racing towards the door and froze when she realized it wasn't who she thought it was, "Omi? Raimundo? Clay? Kimiko?" Laurel glanced back at her friend who gave her a confused look. "Um... What are you doing here? In Los Angeles? Shouldn't you be at the dojo?" She gestured for her friend to turn off the music. The other girl obeyed, still very confused.

"Laurel," she said, "I'm going to go wait in the kitchen, alright?"

Laurel nodded robotically and waved her away. "Sure, Natalie. This won't take long."

"We would like for you to return to the dojo with us," Omi explained as soon as Natalie left the room, "We will leave right away."

The golden-blonde girl looked stunned by this offer. She hadn't even expected these four to show up on her doorstep, much less to think that she was going to leave her nice, normal life to come back with them! She couldn't just leave everyone she loved for a world she barely knew. As much as she had begun to care about the four Xiaolin Warriors, this was her life - not them.

"Please come back, Laurel," Kimiko begged, "We came all this way just to ask you to come back!"

Laurel looked both annoyed and shocked at this. "NO!" she replied rather suddenly, "Why can't you leave me alone?" She slammed the door in their face and Kimiko glanced over at the three males and Dojo.

"Maybe she will be hanging tighter when we return?" Omi suggested in a disappointed tone.

"Hanging _looser_, Omi," Raimundo corrected with a sigh, knowing the there probably wouldn't be any return.

"What are we going to do?" Kimiko asked, glancing over at Clay. He was the sturdy one. He was their rock. But even the Xiaolin Dragon of Earth looked shaken by this new turn. No one had expected Laurel to turn them away so suddenly. It just wasn't how they knew her to be. She was a sweet little blonde girl who got homesick after only one day, got embarrassed over the smallest teasing from Raimundo, and did her best to love everyone. She wasn't the girl who shut the door in their face.

"Ah guess we'll have t' go on back t' Master Fung an' tell him 'bout wha' happened. There ain' nothin' else we can do righ' now," the cowboy finally declared and Omi sighed, disappointed. They all were. "Maybe Laurel will come on her own soon enough."

"I guess..." Kimiko couldn't help thinking that the entire exchange was a little fishy, but as the guys headed into the elevator, she followed. Down in the lobby, Kimiko noticed that the old man from the reception desk was no longer there and now it was empty. Too bad. They might've left a message for Laurel or something like that.

The Dragons were had just left the building when they heard a loud scream. A familiar scream.

"Laurel!" Clay yelled, looking up at the building, "C'mon partners!"

-----

The fourth floor hallway was almost empty, much to the Dragons luck.

"Which one was her apartment?" Raimundo asked, glancing up and down the hall. It wasn't hard to figure out though as a curly-haired blonde stumbled out of one apartment looking more scared than she'd ever been in her life.

"You're still here!" she cried, relieved when she saw them, "This guy! He- he-" She screamed and dashed out of the way as Wuya swooped out of her apartment, followed quickly by Jack Spicer and two Jack-bots.

"Git down, Laurel!" Clay shouted, running forward from the rest of the Xiaolin Dragons. "This hallway ain' big enough for the both of us," he called to Jack Spicer, "An' y'all need to git outta here righ' now."

"Oh yeah?" Jack taunted, grabbing a struggling Laurel's wrist and tugging her to him, "And what're you going to do if I don't listen?"

"Ah'll-"

"It doesn't matter what he does!" Laurel interrupted, balling up her hand into a tight fist, "Because I'll do this!" She pulled her arm back and swung forward, her arm smashing into Jack's nose. A trail of blood began running from it and he frowned.

"You're going to pay for that!" he cried angrily as Laurel broke his hold and took off at a mad dash down the hallway, "Jack-bots! Get that geek!" The two Jack-bots had taken off after Laurel and were gaining on her quickly, but Clay was even faster.

"_THIRD ARM SASH_!" he shouted and pulled the Shen-Gong-Wu from his pocket. He used it to pull Laurel towards the Dragons much faster than the Jack-bots could move and reached into his other pocket, "And now, since we've got Laurel safe - _EYE OF DASHI_!" Using the Shen-Gong-Wu, he fired a blast of lightning and fried the Jack-bots. They dropped to the floor and he was about to use it on Jack and Wuya but Jack yelled one final threat and leapt away into the apartment. They could hear his propellers moving and realized he'd escaped through an open window.

"You saved me!" Laurel cried gratefully, throwing her arms around Clay's neck and hugging him tightly, "Thank you so much! You're my hero, Clay!"

"Aw, shucks," he replied modestly, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head, "It was nothin'. Any of these guys could have done it, Ah jus' happened to have some o' the Shen-Gong-Wu with mah."

"What're Shen-Gong-Wu?" she asked, stumbling over the word as she finally realized that Clay had been using magic. That was certainly... different.

"Look, I know it's a little unbelievable, _menina_," Raimundo explained slowly, "But we aren't just really awesome martial artists. We're sorta trying to save the world from the guy you gave a bloody nose and that one floating purple ghosty-head-thingy."

Laurel was unable to resist giggling a little. "No offense, Rai, because I believe the whole magic thing - I did just watch it happen." She paused and glanced at the quartet and Dojo, who was peeking out from under Clay's hat. "But when you look back on that incident, that whole attack was a little bit pathetic. I'm not sure it's all that hard."

"Alrigh', yeah," Clay agreed, "Jack's a lil' bit off of it sometimes, but other times..." He trailed off and Laurel nodded.

"Hey, where's your friend?" Kimiko asked as it occurred to her that Natalie hadn't come out of the apartment after Jack left.

"Oh no!" Laurel dashed down the hall for the second time in the past five minutes and stared into the apartment, "She- she's gone! That guy must have taken her as a hostage!" She paused and turned to lock her gaze with Omi. "I will. I will come to the dojo and learn how to use my powers. I'm not going to let him get away with hurting my family or my friends and I can't risk this happening again. I need to be there."

"Sweet, _menina_!" Raimundo said with a grin as the Dragons joined her at the doorway to her apartment. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her to his side, simply to give her a noogie. "Don't worry about it, girl. We're gonna get your friend back and Jack Spicer won't know what hit him."

"Thanks, Rodriguez," she replied with a small worried smile as she wrestled away from his brand of tough love.

"_RaiMUNDO_!" he corrected once again, annoyed that she still hadn't gotten it.

"Whoopsie! Sorry, _Raimundo_. I won't forget again, I promise."

"C'mon Laurel. I'll help you pack up some stuff to take to the dojo!" Kimiko offered, grabbing her new friend's hand and tugging her into the bedroom.

-----

Jack groaned again in pain, the wet cloth over his nose already turning pink from the blood.

"Ah thank she bwoke mah nowse!" he complained to Wuya, who seemed especially proud that Jack was in pain.

"Quiet boy! She just made you bleed! Toughen up!" Zooming down to her puzzle box to take a rest, she murmured, "It's so hard to find good help these days..."

Moaning again with a high-girly squeak as he pressed too hard, Jack wished that Laurel really was on the other side so he could start plotting revenge on her. But instead she just happened to be a good actress. Dang!

_Laurel... The moment you're back over here, I'm making you go out on all those stupid Shen-Gong-Wu missions! _he thought, _And Wuya will yell at you when you fail instead of me!_

-----

In the next chapter of **Laurel Wreath** -

_"Hey partners!" Clay called on his way past Kimiko's bedroom where Kimiko and Raimundo were locked in a heated match of Fury Fighter VII. Laurel and Omi were looking on eagerly, waiting for their turn to play winner, "Dojo says he's got a reading on a new Shen-Gong-Wu!"_

_"Huh?" Laurel asked, blinking furiously. She was still having trouble grasping the concept of what a Shen-Gong-Wu was._

_"C'mon!" Kimiko said, pressing pause as she and Raimundo set down their controllers._

_"Yeah, _menina_!" Raimundo agreed, "This is where being a Xiaolin Dragon gets cool!"_

-----

_"It's called the Rabbit's Ears," Dojo explained, climbing onto Clay's shoulder for better view of the scroll, "And even though it looks silly, it's worth the ticket from the fashion police. It allows you to run from two times to five times as fast as a normal human runs."_

-----

_"There it is!" Kimiko shouted, finding her voice and pointing up at a model in the window of some teen-scene fashion store. On it's head was a pair of bunny ears._

_"I got it!" Laurel said and dashed into the store as fast as she could. She reached out and placed one hand on the Rabbit's Ears, but less than a second later, the window smashed as Jack Spicer flew through it, "It's mine, Jack Spicer! I was here first!"_

_"Not anymore!" Jack replied as he pulled on the Rabbit's Ears, trying to pull them away from her, "Laurel! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! Your Tangle Web Comb against my Changing Chopsticks!"_

_"Not the Tangle Web Comb," Raimundo groaned, remembering how Laurel had been hanging from the tree that morning when he walked out of the dojo, "She stinks with that thing!"_

_"Fine!" Laurel snapped back anyway, doing her best not to show the nervousness she felt. She didn't know how to use it, "Name your game, Jack Spicer!"_

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n; Okay, so did the chapter suck too terribly? I thought it was plenty fine despite the Mary Sue-ness that seemed to abound. I still keep my reasoning being that it's the way I would expect the four Dragons to act around a new person. They would just be really kind. And I don't really care if you disagree.

**REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC!**

Lookie there! I said '**REVIEW MY FIC!**' a whole fifteen times! W00t! And since I took all that time to type out '**REVIEW MY FIC!**' fifteen times, I expect all of you to take the time to review. It doesn't have to be long and it doesn't have to be nice. It doesn't even need to be in English. I'll accept 'Tu's el fanfico el suxos.' See? Spanglish! Please review. It makes me feel good that I'm either good enough to have people actually tell me that, or because I'm so bad that people bother telling me. I don't mind sucking.

Speaking Spanglish to the masses.

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	3. 3: Xiaolin Showdown for the Rabbit

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part Three: _Xiaolin Showdown for the Rabbit's Ears_

-----

"Rai!" A voice shrieked from the yard in front of the dojo, startling the aforementioned Brazilian boy. "Kimiko! Clay! Omi! Master Fung! Dojo!" the voice continued, listing off the names of almost all the dojo's inhabitants. Curious and slightly worried, Raimundo headed out front, searching for the source of the screams. "RAI!" the voice cried again as he stepped out of the dojo onto the front steps, "Thank goodness you're here! Help me!"

Raimundo paused, still confused by the person yelling for his help. He couldn't see anyone out in front of the dojo, and certainly not anyone who was in peril.

"Uh? Where are you?" he asked, his eyes darting around the yard. Maybe Kimiko and Omi were messing with him, but there was always the possibility of Jack Spicer. And Raimundo was not in the mood to give Jack Spicer any mercy today.

"I'm up here!" the voice called back and Raimundo glanced up, stumbling back when he realized someone was actually hanging from the top branch of one of the tallest trees on the dojo's grounds.

"Laurel?" he asked as he recognized the familiar golden-blonde curls, "What're you doing up there, _menina_?" He could almost see Laurel flush crimson as she began squirming again and her voice softened.

"I was... erm... well, it's like this..." she stopped squirming and managed to turn her head toward Raimundo, "I sort of got caught up here when I was practicing with the Tangle Web Comb earlier. Omi, Clay, and Kimiko have been locked up in Kimiko's room all morning and I don't know where Master Fung is. I've been hanging here for at least an hour and all of my blood is rushing to my head now. Do you think you could get me down from here?"

"How?"

Laurel attempted to shrug upside-down, but gave up and shook her head instead. "I don't know how. I figure you guys might have some Shen-Gong-Wu you could use to get me down or something."

"We aren't actually supposed to be using the Shen-Gong-Wu without Master Fung's permission," Raimundo replied, fidgeting, "But I guess he'll never find out. It won't take long to get you down."

_I hope_, he thought to himself.

"I'll be right back," he assured Laurel and headed out to where the Shen-Gong-Wu were kept. When he returned, he carried the Golden Tiger Claws and Laurel let out a long relieved sigh. "_GOLDEN TIGER CLAWS_!" Raimundo called, slashing at the air in front of him. He hopped into the purple portal that appeared and Laurel squeaked as another purple portal appeared on the branch near her. Raimundo stepped out and knelt down on the branch, grinning flirtatiously at Laurel. "Don't worry, _menina_. I'll be your knight in shining armor."

Laurel flushed even harder and mumbled something inaudible, squirming. Taking a closer look, Raimundo realized that one of her ankles had been bound to the tree by the Tangle Web Comb and she'd slung her other leg over the limb to take the pressure off her first ankle. Pulling at the comb, Raimundo managed easily to pull it off her ankle and managed to pull her up onto the tree branch before she fell.

"_GOLDEN TIGER CLAWS_!" he shouted again and a portal appeared beneath their tree limb. The duo each slid off the tree and were deposited roughly on the ground by means of another portal, but Laurel didn't seem to mind. She was just happy to be on the ground again.

"Do you want to go play video games in Kimiko's bedroom or something?" Laurel asked, "I think I'm done dealing with Shen-Gong-Wu for today."

"That sounds good," Raimundo agree, but first took the Tangle Web Comb from her hands. She followed him as he returned it to the Shen-Gong-Wu vault and grinned at her. "Can't let Master Fung know we were messing around with the Golden Tiger Claws."

"I'd hardly call a rescue mission 'messing around'," Laurel replied indignantly.

"I'd hardly call you getting stuck in a tree a 'rescue mission'," Raimundo shot back mockingly, "Come on. Kimiko's parents just sent her Fury Fighter VII and she's been playing it all day."

-----

"Hey partners!" Clay called on his way past Kimiko's bedroom where Kimiko and Raimundo were locked in a heated match of Fury Fighter VII. Laurel and Omi were looking on eagerly, waiting for their turn to play winner, "Dojo says he's got a reading on a new Shen-Gong-Wu!"

"Huh?" Laurel asked, blinking furiously. She was still having trouble grasping the concept of what a Shen-Gong-Wu was.

"C'mon!" Kimiko said, pressing pause as she and Raimundo set down their controllers.

"Yeah, _menina_!" Raimundo agreed, "This is where being a Xiaolin Dragon gets cool!"

Laurel nodded obediently and quietly followed the other four Dragons out to the front of the dojo where Dojo awaited with the Shen-Gong-Wu scroll. Clay leaned down and picked it up, unrolling it as the others crowded around him.

"What is this Shen-Gong-Wu we will be retrieving?" Omi asked, hopping around, trying to see the scroll.

"It's called the Rabbit's Ears," Dojo explained, climbing onto Clay's shoulder for better view of the scroll, "And even though it looks silly, it's worth the ticket from the fashion police. It allows you to run from two times to five times as fast as a normal human runs."

"Awesome!" Raimundo declared, "Man, if I'd only had that back in Brazil, I'd have won every track meet easy!" He paused, glancing at Kimiko and Laurel. "Not that I wasn't already the fastest runner out there."

"Yeah, sure Rai," Kimiko teased and Laurel giggled, "Whatever you say."

"So where is it, partner?" Clay asked as the little animation of a man wearing the Rabbit's Ears running at superspeed played in the middle of the scroll, "Where are we headed on out t' today, Dojo?"

"We're headed out to-"

-----

"**The Mall of America**!"

Kimiko and Laurel were still cheering jubilantly as Dojo neared Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of America's largest mall. All five Dragons were riding on Dojo's back as he swirled down towards the gigantic mall.

"I still can't believe we're going shopping for Shen-Gong-Wu, man," Raimundo complained. He'd been shopping with Kimiko before and he still had bruises from that. He did not want to _ever _know how shopping with two over-excited girls would be.

"Ah don' think it'll be too horrible, Raimundo," Clay said optimistically, though his expression betrayed his words. He looked almost afraid of the two happy fourteen-year-olds despite the fact that he was two years older and bigger than both of them.

"I do not doubt that Kimiko and Laurel are happy that we are going to this shopping mall, but I also do not doubt that they will not be distracted until our mission is complete." When Omi said this, both Raimundo and Clay turned to him with wide eyes and shocked expressions on their faces.

"Omi..." Raimundo began, "Have you ever been shopping with a _girl _before?"

Omi shook his head innocently.

"Oh, the sweet naivety of a child," the Brazilian boy moaned sadly.

"Yeah, partner," Clay agreed, putting a solemn hand on Omi's shoulder, "Y'all have got a lot t' learn 'bout what shoppin' malls do t' girls."

"We are going shopping!" Kimiko and Laurel cheered in sing-song voices, "We are going shopping!"

-----

"So we're looking for a pair of Rabbit's Ears on a headband... Kind of tacky, don't you think?" Kimiko asked and Laurel nodded solemnly without even looking away from the windows of the stores they passed.

"Oh! Those are such cute shoes and I _love _those jeans and - oh my gosh! - I just adore that sweater!"

Raimundo groaned in unison with Dojo under Clay's hat.

"Doesn't it ever end?" Raimundo begged pathetically and Clay sighed.

"Jus' gotta stick it out, partner. They can't go on forever, eh?" Clay reassured Raimundo, but he wasn't so sure of himself as he continued watching the girls point out their favorite clothing in the mall.

"This is such a great store!" Kimiko said, pausing as a nagging feeling went off in the back of her head, "They have these _everywhere _in Japan! I didn't know they were here in America too!"

"C'mon Kimiko," Clay urged, "We've gotta keep on searchin' fer the Rabbit's Ears."

"Just hold on for a second, alright?" she asked as the nagging feeling grew. She was missing something. She knew that much. Staring into that store's display window, Kimiko's gaze focused on the manikins displaying ruffled skirts in bright hues and pretty t-shirts with cute pictures on them. But there was something else. Her eyes were drawn to one manikin in particular and they traveled up the manikin, from her feet to her head and it finally struck Kimiko. "It- it-" she stammered.

"Kimiko?" Omi asked, stepping forward from the waiting Xiaolin Dragons. Laurel walked to Kimiko's side and attempted to follow her gaze on the manikin but was lost.

"What is it, Kimi?" she asked slowly, cocking her head at the perky Japanese girl.

"There it is!" Kimiko shouted, finding her voice and pointing up at a model in the window of some teen-scene fashion store. On it's head was a pair of bunny ears.

"I got it!" Laurel said and dashed into the store as fast as she could. She reached out and placed one hand on the Rabbit's Ears, but less than a second later, the window smashed as Jack Spicer flew through it, "It's mine, Jack Spicer! I was here first!"

"Not anymore!" Jack replied as he pulled on the Rabbit's Ears, trying to pull them away from her, "Laurel! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! Your Tangle Web Comb against my Mantis Flip Coin!"

"Not the Tangle Web Comb," Raimundo groaned, remembering how Laurel had been hanging from the tree that morning when he walked out of the dojo, "She stinks with that thing!"

"Fine!" Laurel snapped back anyway, doing her best not to show the nervousness she felt. She didn't know how to use it, "Name your game, Jack Spicer!"

"Aw man, Laurel... Just step down. We can get the Rabbit's Ears back later..." Raimundo muttered frusteratedly, "It's better to lose just one Shen-Gong-Wu than two..." But Laurel was oblivious to his muttering.

"An obstacle course..." Jack said dramatically and thrust his hand out, gesturing to the sight beyond the broken glass window. Laurel's eyes widened and Raimundo swore under his breath, "Across the theme park located in the middle of the biggest mall in America! You have to touch all three checkpoints in order and get to the finish line first to win!"

"You bet! I never lose a race!" the curly-haired blonde replied energetically.

Jack Spicer rolled his eyes, "Don't you know? There's a first time for everything, loser!"

"_XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN_!" both warriors shouted in unison as their chosen Shen-Gong-Wu appeared in their hands. Kimiko's hair, currently bright green and spiky, switched back to its previous black pigtails. All five of the Xiaolin Dragons were suddenly in their dojo uniforms and the mall was, for some reason, strangely empty a moment later. That was the power of a Xiaolin Showdown.

In the theme park below them, large spheres appeared across the theme park floating above different rides. There were six overall, either red or blue; red for Jack and blue for Laurel. Two hovered over the Ripsaw Roller Coaster; two above the tracks of the newest ride, Timberland Twister; and two at the very top of the structure build to hold the Mighty Axe ride. On the far side of Camp Snoopy, one final sphere appeared, larger than any of the others. It was white and would turn the color of the winner. Inside of the sphere, suspended in mid-air were the Rabbit's Ears.

"_GONG YI TAMPAI_!" Jack shouted and took off, his propellers taking him over the rides easily.

"What?" Laurel asked, glancing at her friends.

"It means go!" Kimiko shouted, urging her onward and Laurel nodded, pulling out the Tangle Web Comb.

"_TANGLE WEB COMB_!" she cried, and the comb's teeth grew, wrapping around the nearest ride - the Ripsaw Roller Coaster and the location of the first checkpoint.

The four leftover Dragons and Dojo, now on Clay's shoulder, dashed forward to the railing, cheering for Laurel and shouting advice. Laurel made it to the roller coaster and was now climbing up it as quickly as she could, holding the Tangle Web Comb between her teeth. Jack had yet to use his Shen-Gong-Wu, but was doing well enough with just his propellers and the head start Laurel had given him unconsciously. He made it to the first sphere and slammed his hand against it; it began glowing. He hopped off the ride with a war cry and headed for the Timberland Twisted as Laurel reached the top of the coaster. She started moving faster towards it, shaking slightly as she stood up on the high tracks and made her way toward the sphere. Just as she reached out, she tripped and just barely brushed her fingers against the blue sphere, causing it to glow.

"Laurel!" Kimiko cried worriedly, unable to see what happened because the roller coaster was in the way.

But Laurel slowly made herself visible again, pulling herself up using the Tangle Web Comb.

"She's doing better than she was this morning," Raimundo thought aloud, "But I guess I wasn't there very long. Maybe she was doing good before I came."

"Well, if Laurel keeps this up, she'll catch on up t' Jack withou' even tryin'," Clay agreed before letting out a whoop and shouting, "C'mon Laurel! You're almost caugh' up t' him!"

Laurel still looked worried, but a wide smirk suddenly crossed her face and she yelled, "_TANGLE WEB COMB_!" No one could tell what she was thinking at first, but it became pretty obvious when the comb's teeth shot forward, tangling into Jack's propellers.

"Woah!" the redhead shouted as he began falling, luckily already over one of though moonbounce things.

Laurel looked happier now and she used to comb to pull herself onto one of the little kid's ride, called the Frog Hopper. She continued moving across the theme park as Jack Spicer began cover ground by running. As he was about ten feet away from the Timberland Twister, he took a giant leap, shouting, "_MANTIS FLIP COIN_!" Jack bounded onto the tracks of the Timberland Twister and began making his way toward the spheres at the same time Laurel began coming from the other direction on the tracks. Noticing this, Laurel began moving faster, reaching the spheres just a few second before Jack did.

"I told you I never lost a race!" Laurel snapped with a wry grin as Jack approached before the teeth of her Tangle Web Comb shot out and she swung towards the last ride - the Mighty Axe. But as she was being pulled through the air by the comb, a heavy force hit her from her backside, knocking her into the ride. The Tangle Web Comb's long teeth wrapped around her, locking her to the tower.

"Sucker!" Jack called as he clung to the ride and began climbing up to the spheres at the top. After reaching the second of his spheres, he had used his Mantis Flip Coin to propel himself forward into her, causing Laurel to lose control of her Shen-Gong-Wu. He reached the top and placed one hand on his sphere and it lit up causing Laurel to begin struggling violently against the binding holding her to the ride, to no avail. Jack was running across the floor towards the final orb and the Rabbit's Ears.

The redhead reached it and leapt forward with one final gigantic bound, placing both his hands on the orb. A bright red light burst from the sphere, illuminating the entire area and spilling into the rest of the mall. When the light disappeared, the Tangle Web Comb was no longer holding Laurel to the Mighty Axe and she fell to the ground, pulling herself to her knees. She wanted to cry. Looking up, she managed to spot Jack's vibrant hair and strange attire among the crowds that had returned. All three of the Shen-Gong-Wu were gathered in his arms and he scampered away.

Laurel felt like crying. She'd failed the Dragons, even after they'd been so open and welcoming. All she'd wanted to do was prove that she deserved to be there and all she'd done was prove that it was a mistake for her to have come.

Over at the railing, the other Dragons were again returned to their normal attire and Kimiko's hair color was bright green again, but they all were sort of disappointed. It was partly their fault that Jack had won too. Maybe they shouldn't have let Laurel take the first Xiaolin Showdown she had ever seen.

"I guess we should go get Laurel and head back to the dojo..." Dojo said, having returned to his hiding place under Clay's hat the moment the crowds had returned. The one thing they didn't need now was mass panic over a dragon.

"Yes, I suppose you are right," Omi agreed and the four Dragons headed down the escalator to where they met Laurel at the edge of the theme park.

She looked horrible, her eyes filled with tears and her face red. "I didn't mean to lose," she whispered hoarsely, "I understand if you want me to go back to Los Angeles."

"What do you mean, _menina_?" Raimundo asked, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick squeeze.

"We aren' gonna send ya home fer a long time," Clay told her.

"Yeah," Kimiko pulled Laurel away from Raimundo and hugged her, "We all mess up once in a while and this was your first Showdown. We should've gotten you better prepped for this!" She grinned and a small smile broke out on Laurel's face as she pushed some curly blonde hair out of her face.

"Really?" she inquired softly, "You promise?" She looked a little skeptical and Raimundo wiped the disappointed look off his own face.

"Of course, we promise!" Raimundo replied, "You were doing awesome out there for a while, _menina_! We still think you rock!"

"You are most mistaken, Raimundo," Omi corrected solemnly, "Laurel is in no way a rock."

"It means that he thinks she's cool," Kimiko explained to the short monk with a giggle, "It means he likes her."

"Oh! In that case, I agree! You rock!" Omi repeated and Laurel began giggling along with Kimiko.

"I still can't believe you broke Jack's propellers!" the Japanese girl laughed as she began guiding the blonde towards the exit, "That was great!" The boys followed, Raimundo a little slower than the others.

_It'll take a while_, he told himself, _A long while. But we'll make it worth it. Soon Laurel will be a Dragon whose bite is way worse than her bark._

-----

The thunder crashed outside the dojo and Clay's shutters crashed closed for the third time that night. He didn't bother getting up to open them again, mostly for the sake of Raimundo and the others, who all were still sleeping. At least, he thought they were sleeping. Clay sat up on his mat, shoving the covers down to his feet as he stood slowly, pulling a t-shirt over his head and picking up his hat from the floor and placing it on his head. He was already wearing flannel pajama bottoms and he wasn't going to bother with putting on his socks and shoes in the dojo if he didn't need to.

He headed out of his bedroom silently. For being such a big guy, even Clay would admit that he was a lot quieter than ever Omi when he wanted to be. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like if he was thinner and more outgoing, like Raimundo. It was strange that they were best friends when they were so different. Raimundo would come up with the crazy hair-brained schemes and Clay would invariably turn out to be the responsible one whether he liked it or not.

As Clay passed Rai's room, he slid the door partway open to check on his friend. Sometimes it ended up being Clay and Rai out on the front steps of the dojo as rain poured down outside. Maybe it had something to do with their elements, but Clay found that when the earth outside was soaking wet, he couldn't stand to be cooped up inside. He had to be out there, and sometimes when the wind blew especially hard, Rai was also up for the same reason.

But tonight it seemed, it would just be Clay waiting for the storm to end so he could get some much needed sleep. He slid the door shut without a sound and headed out to the front steps, surprised to find someone already out there.

"Laure?" he asked, not realizing the nickname he'd used for her until it was already out.

She glanced back at him and smiled broadly. "It's been a while since someone called me that. That was my ex-boyfriend's nickname for me," she explained softly.

"Do ya mind if Ah...?" he trailed off, gesturing at the area beside Laurel on the step. Despite there being enough room already, she scooted to the side a little welcomingly.

"Of course not. Go ahead and sit down," she answered amicably, "And I don't mind if you call me Laure either. It's just a name."

Clay sat down slowly, taking in the sight of the girl next to him as he moved. Her hair was tied back with a white ribbon and she was dressed differently than usual, in a pair of flannel shorts and dark purple sweatshirt. Probably her sleepwear. Clay suddenly felt sort of strange. He'd never had a girl see him in his pajamas, not even Kimiko. Sure, they covered his full body, but just the suggestion of it was somewhat scandalous. These were more personal than his everyday clothes. Something that was usually only seen by those close to them. Like family members, or a lover.

Clay flushed especially hard as Laurel leaned up against him, using his shoulder as her pillow as she closed her eyes.

"I'm so tired..." she mumbled softly, her eyes opening again and flickering to Clay, "Those Xiaolin Showdowns take a lot more out of you than you'd expect, huh?"

"Y'all are gonna git used t' it," Clay reassured her, "Don' worry 'bout it. Soon, they're a piece o' cake."

"Mmm..." Laurel groaned, "Cake would taste so good right now, don't you think?"

Clay couldn't help but laugh. It was strange. Around the others, Laurel was more timid and quiet, but here and now, alone with him, she acted more open. She didn't normally joke around; she just laughed when Raimundo said something funny.

"Why're y'all out here so late at nigh'?" he asked her, smiling.

"I could ask you the same thing, cowboy," she replied instantly, as if expecting this question soon.

"Ah'll only tell ya why Ah'm out here if you tell mah first," Clay told her stoically and Laurel pouted prettily, like a little girl who hadn't gotten the ice cream she wanted.

"Fine, but only because it's you," she agreed, "It's because of the storm. Mostly the lightning, in fact. It might have something to do with my element, but I don't know..." She frowned. "Maybe I'm just freaking out over the Showdown earlier today."

"It's probably your element," Clay told her and Laurel urged him on, "That's why Ah'm out here so late at nigh'. Normally, Ah'd be sound asleep. Rai's sometimes out here too... But Ah guess he's not feelin' it too much tonigh', eh?"

Laurel nodded and she glanced back out at the grounds. "I think the storm's finally letting up. There hasn't been lightning in a while. You should go back to bed."

Clay nodded, planning on doing just that, when he paused, looked back over at Laurel, "Aren' ya comin' back inside?"

She met his gaze easily and smiled. "Of course," she replied, "I'll be back inside in just a little bit. I just want to think a little more about the Xiaolin Showdown earlier today."

"Aw, Laure. Don' you be worryin' yer pretty lil' head over tha', alrigh'? It wasn' yer fault an' we all know that."

Laurel nodded and made a shooing gesture, "Don't you worry your pretty lil' head about me, Clay. I'm going to be okay."

Clay nodded and stood, heading back inside as the rain finally stopped pounding against the dojo. Staring out into the area beyond the ends of the dojo's grounds, Laurel noticed three short blinks of lights.

"I guess that's my signal..." she whispered, picking up a bag that lay partly hidden under the steps and entirely unnoticed by the Xiaolin Dragon of Earth, 'I'm outta here. Later suckers." She smiled and slid one object out of the bag. "_Golden Tiger Claws_!" she hissed, slashing at the air. A purple portal opened and Laurel hopped in. It closed behind her and the dojo was left empty of any trace of Laurel. As if she'd never existed.

-----

In the next chapter of **Laurel Wreath **-

_"Honey!" a familiar voice shrieked and Jack snapped back awake. It took him a moment to realize who it was that had spoken, but when he did figure it out, he groaned. "I'm home!" Laurel appeared in the doorway, sopping wet from the thunderstorm still occurring outside, but sporting a wide grin. "And guess what I brought you?"_

_Wuya shrieked happily and swooped forward as Laurel unceremoniously dumped the bag she was carrying on the ground. Curiosity ruling over fatigue, Jack stood and joined them, his eyes widening at the sight of the sparkling objects inside the sack._

_"That's right," Laurel continued, answering her own question. Her smile turned devious and she nudged the bag farther open with her foot, allowing the items to spill out on the concrete floor, "As you commanded, Wuya. All the Shen-Gong-Wu I could find."_

-----

_"Laurel's gone?" Clay repeated, "But Ah was up las' nigh' talkin' t' her. She said she was comin' on in as soon as the rain let up a bit more."_

_Master Fung nodded solemnly at his disciples. "Not only is she gone, but she has taken with her many of our Shen-Gong-Wu, young monks. For luck, she did pass by some which were locked away deeper in the vault. But I am assured that they will soon attack."_

_Omi's gaze turned from Raimundo to Kimiko to Clay, all of whom looked hurt by Laurel's betrayal of their trust. "We must then prepare."_

-----

_"You betrayed us, _menina_!" Raimundo snapped angrily, his hand clenching around the grip of the Sword of the Storm, "We accepted you. We trusted you and you try to hurt us all!"_

_"That jus' ain't the way things go 'round here, partner," Clay agreed, "Y'all have gotta be hones' and keep yer promises. That's part o' bein' a Xiaolin Dragon."_

_"Don't you get it?" Laurel replied, "I never was the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning. There **isn't** any Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning! I came from my homeland to promote the morality and justice we uphold there and Jack and Wuya have told me all about your crimes! I refuse to let you go unpunished, whether or not you may have changed!" Raimundo and Clay shared confused looks, but Laurel was already attacking again. "_EYE OF DASHI_!" she shrieked, thrusting it forward as it shot of a blast of lightning._

_Raimundo easily dodged the uncontrolled attack and narrowed his eyes at her. "That's it, man!" he said to Clay, "I don't care if she was our friend at one point! Let's kick some booty!"_

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n; Well, I'm surprised to say that once again, my head it clear of any author's notes. I'm just having trouble coming up with stuff right now. I've been incredibly busy with school. Eek! I hate high school! And I love it. It's a love-hate relationship.

**REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! **(Woo hoo!)

Please? I've had a really stressful time the past few days and I could use a little bit of support (or some more hatred as the case may be) from my reviewers. I really don't even know how to beg for them today. That's how badly I need them. And I have a whole bunch of TESTS coming up in school that I'd rather not take so... maybe you could just review to wish me luck? To tell me not to procrastinate and study instead? To tell me that I'm an idiotic -bad word here- who'll never pass high school?

By the way, has anyone ever watched Red VS Blue? It's awesome! I was talking to this great senior today who has seen it. So, I just want to know if anyone out there has actually seen any bits of the greatest movies ever - Red VS Blue: Season One and Red VS Blue: Season Two. It would be really cool if someone could email me if they've seen it. I'd love to be able to chat with SOMEONE about it.

**REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC! REVIEW MY FIC!** (That was just because I don't feel good.)

EDIT: I'm not sure when it happened, but the Mall of America lost the right to use the Peanuts characters in their theme park. Now it is called 'The Park at MOA' instead of Camp Snoopy, but I chose not to change it in my fanfic even though I think the new name will stay. Hopefully, no one minds!

Tired and 'mad-at-the-world-and-Sara-for-not-calling-her'.

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	4. 4: Guess Who

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part Four: _Guess Who's Back, Back Again_

-----

Jack wanted to scream.

No, seriously. He really did want to scream. To be more specific and elaborate a little on this point, he wanted to scream as loudly as he could until his throat was raw and scratchy and then he was go over to the Xiaolin Temple and smack Laurel silly. He still couldn't figure out what she'd done to his Jack-bot to make it immobile. He'd been tweaking wires all over inside of it, but all that succeeded in doing was making the situation more befuddling. Oh yes, Jack Spicer was considerably miffed by this and if he saw Laurel anytime soon-

"Honey!" a familiar voice shrieked and Jack snapped back awake. It took him a moment to realize who it was that had spoken, but when he did figure it out, he groaned. "I'm home!" Laurel appeared in the doorway, sopping wet from the thunderstorm still occurring outside, but sporting a wide grin. "And guess what I brought you?"

Wuya shrieked happily and swooped forward as Laurel unceremoniously dumped the bag she was carrying on the ground. Curiosity ruling over fatigue, Jack stood and joined them, his eyes widening at the sight of the sparkling objects inside the sack.

"That's right," Laurel continued, answering her own question. Her smile turned devious and she nudged the bag farther open with her foot, allowing the items to spill out on the concrete floor, "As you commanded, Wuya. All the Shen-Gong-Wu I could find." Wuya cackled evilly and began praising Laurel for her efforts. The girl turned bright red and her smile began genuinely sincere. Once again, she looked like the same girl that had left the Xiaolin Temple.

"So? Can we go kick some wanna-be loser booty?" Jack asked eagerly, all previous anger at Laurel forgotten. Even he would admit that this was a pretty nice accomplishment and that it deserved some celebration.

"Yesss..." Wuya hissed, "We finally have the Shen-Gong-Wu-" She paused and glanced at Laurel. "-back. Now we can get our revenge!"

Laurel saluted playfully, "Can I change first though? I'm not really into this whole colorful outfit look, y'all know?" Laurel paused when she said this and frowned. She had sounded like... Clay. She didn't actually want to hurt him. She liked the way Clay talked. His voice was nice and soft and she liked the way that he said her name in his Texan accent.

"Uh... Sure," Jack replied. He'd never understood why it was that girls were always so worried about their clothes. It wasn't really that important, "Go ahead, but hurry up. You took long enough just to get the Shen-Gong-Wu." Laurel nodded solemnly and hurried out of the room, towards the rooms she'd slept in before she headed to the Xiaolin Temple.

Why did she suddenly have such a bad feeling about this?

-----

"Hi, guys," Kimiko greeted as she strode into the kitchen, looking slightly troubled. As she looked over the two boys at the breakfast table, one ready to fall asleep in his bowl of Frosted Flakes and the other busy with picking the marshmallows out of his Lucky Charms, "What's up?"

Raimundo glanced up and grumbled a response before going back to his previous task. Kimiko's frown deepened. Both boys looked worse for the wear. Raimundo wasn't all that different than usual - half-asleep, dressed in his boxers and a t-shirt, hair still wet from a shower before he headed for breakfast. But Clay looked different than usual, his hair tousled, though dressed normally. He pushed his bowl forward and managed to just barely miss it when he drooped face first onto the table. Raimundo turned to look at him, snickered quickly, and pretended that nothing had happened in the first place.

"Clay!" Kimiko gasped, tossing a glare Raimundo's way before sitting at the blonde cowboy's side and tugging him up from the table, "Are you okay?"

"Didn' get much sleep last nigh' 'cause of the storm," Clay managed to explain as his visions focused on his comrade, "Ah'm gonna disappear on back t' bed soon an' hit the hay for another five minutes before trainin' starts up."

"Poor guy..." Kimiko replied and Raimundo grunted sympathetically, "By the way, while we're on the subject of missing Xiaolin warriors... Has anyone seen Laurel or Omi this morning? Normally she's at breakfast and the little guy's all over the place, but I haven't seen either of them this morning."

"Laurel's probably still sleepin'. She was up 'cause o' the storm too an' she stayed up a lil' later than Ah did. It's only logical tha' she'd sleep a lil' longer in the mornin'."

"That's incorrect, Clay," Omi corrected as he, Dojo, and Master Fung appeared in the doorway looking very solemn, "Laurel is no longer at the temple."

"She left?" Raimundo asked, his first coherent sentence that morning, looking up from his cereal.

"Nuh uh, kid," Dojo answered, sighing, "Laurel is just gone."

"Laurel's gone?" Clay repeated, "But Ah was up las' nigh' talkin' t' her. She said she was comin' on in as soon as the rain let up a bit more."

Master Fung nodded solemnly at his disciples. "Not only is she gone, but she has taken with her many of our Shen-Gong-Wu, young monks. For luck, she did pass by some which were locked away deeper in the vault. But I am assured that they will soon attack."

Omi's gaze turned from Raimundo to Kimiko to Clay, all of whom looked hurt by Laurel's betrayal of their trust. "We must then prepare."

All four Dragons nodded in unison and the three others agreed as they headed out to gather the only Shen-Gong-Wu left at the temple.

-----

"Guess who's back... Back again... Shady's back... Tell a friend..."

The lyrics of a certain popular white rapper resounded loudly through the grounds of the Xiaolin Temple and four pairs of eyes belonging to teenaged Xiaolin warriors shot to the shut door.

"Are you guys ready?" Kimiko asked, her eyes darting across her friends' faces. Omi looked just like he did before every battle - calm, focused, ready to win. Raimundo was furious and had been pacing the length of the room until Kimiko threatened to sit on him. Clay though... Clay was the one who looked most unlike himself. He wasn't being the strong one, the sturdy one who told them all that they could take on Laurel and Jack Spicer and Wuya, no matter how many more Shen-Gong-Wu the bad guys had. Instead, their cowboy looked hurt and confused. He hadn't even seemed so betrayed when Raimundo left them for Wuya.

"Yes, Kimiko," Omi replied and Raimundo nodded, "We're ready to knock their pants off!"

"_Socks_, Omi... Not pants. We want their pants to stay on." Raimundo rolled his eyes and Kimiko moved to Clay's side as the other two clustered by the door.

"Clay..." she began softly, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You know that you don't have to go out there and fight if you don't want to. We'll try to fight them on our own if you don't think you're ready to face Laurel again. You don't have to worry about-" Clay calmly placed a hand over her mouth and helped himself up. He gave her a weak smile and embraced her.

"Ah do have t' go out there, Kimiko," he told her slowly, "Or else Ah can't ever claim t' be the Xiaolin Dragon of Earth again. A Xiaolin Dragon is brave, even when then don't want to be." Kimiko smiled to herself. Clay was still himself, even when he'd been stabbed in the back by someone they had welcomed so easily.

"Let's go everyone!" Kimiko commanded dutifully as the Dragons each grabbed their Shen-Gong-Wu and opened the door moving out into the bright sunlight. Hardly the type of weather one would expect for a battle against a great evil.

The aforementioned rap song was blasting out of a Jack-bot stationed to the left of a few familiar faces - Laurel, Jack Spicer, and Wuya. Jack was hanging from his now-fixed propellers, Laurel was using the Jet Bootsu to hover in midair and Wuya was just doing her ghost thing. Laurel smacked the Jack-bot in the back of the head and the music shut off immediately.

"Hey there, guys!" she said cheerfully, hooking her arm in Jack's, "I was worried we would have to come in and look for you. And I didn't want to mess up the temple, especially when it's so nice!"

"Hey, losers. You guys ready to lose again to an evil genius and-" He paused to glance over at the perky blonde next to him. "And her?"

"We aren't going to lose to you again, Jack Spicer!" Kimiko spat angrily, "This time we'll win and get the Shen-Gong-Wu back, without any underhanded tricks." A confused look came over Laurel's face, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

"Let's take them down, Jack!" Laurel demanded, glaring at the four warriors fiercely.

"Right! I'll take Kimiko and the short, bald kid!"

"Oh, sure! Give me the big guys, don't you?" Jack rolled his eyes at Laurel's weak protests and she used the Jet Bootsu to zoom over the temple to the other side. "Catch me if you can!" she taunted.

"C'mon!" Raimundo called and he and Clay dashed around the side of the building to face Laurel, who was now standing on the ground, looking very satisfied.

Raimundo turned his death glare on full-power, but couldn't help to not also take a good look at Laurel's new attire. She was dressed in the standard color of all evil - black. Her outfit consisted of a knee-length, ruffled black skirt; a tight black tank-top; a pair of black and white striped arm warmers; and black Converse high-tops. Around her neck was a spiked collar and her make-up was black lipstick and heavy, dark eye make-up. Her hair was still as curly and blonde as ever, one of the few things that convinced Raimundo that this was still Laurel.

As for her Shen-Gong-Wu, she wore the Helmet of Jong with the Rabbit's Ears poking up through it. Around her neck hung the Eye of Dashi and on her feet were the Jet Bootsu. In one hand, she carried a wooden staff topped with hunk of obsidian, something neither boy had seen before.

In Raimundo hand was the Sword of the Storm, his grip tightening as he took in the large amount of Shen-Gong-Wu she wore. He was used to one-on-one battles. Not anything like this. Clay carried the Third Arm Sash, his thoughts similar to Raimundo's, though he also wondered how Omi and Kimiko were doing. They'd had the Serpent's Tail and the Monkey Staff when the group had split.

"Hey boys," Laurel said softly, an echo of the girl that they remembered, "How are you guys doing out here at the dojo? I hope you don't mind that I left early." She flashed a quick, malicious grin at both boys, "You know how I just _hate _long goodbyes!"

"You betrayed us, _chica_!" Raimundo snapped angrily, his hand clenching around the grip of the Sword of the Storm, "We accepted you. We trusted you and you tried to hurt us all!"

"That jus' ain't the way things go 'round here, partner," Clay agreed, "Y'all have gotta be hones' and keep yer promises. That's part o' bein' a Xiaolin Dragon."

"Don't you get it?" Laurel replied, "I never was the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning. There **isn't **any Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning! I came from my homeland to promote the morality and justice we uphold there and Jack and Wuya have told me all about your crimes! I refuse to let you go unpunished, whether or not you may have changed!" Raimundo and Clay shared confused looks, but Laurel was already attacking again. "_EYE OF DASHI_!" she shrieked, thrusting it forward as it shot of a blast of lightning.

Raimundo easily dodged the uncontrolled attack and narrowed his eyes at her. "That's it, man!" he said to Clay, "I don't care if she was our friend at one point! Let's kick some booty!"

-----

In the next chapter of **Laurel Wreath** -

_"Come on, _chica_! You've gotta know that you're doing the wrong thing! So why are you doing this?" Raimundo asked, slashing the sword out in front of him to demonstrate his point._

_"Why am I doing this? _Why am **I** doing this? _You can't fool me Dragons. The question is, 'Why are _**you** _doing this?'" Laurel paused. "I thought you guys seemed nice... I thought you was the good guys and you were my friends and you wouldn't lie to me... But I was wrong and now I'm going to make sure you pay for your crimes." _

-----

_"Forget this!" Raimundo finally yelled, his self-restraint breaking, "Clay, you go behind and get her Shen-Gong-Wu. I'm going to keep her distracted." He turned and ground one sneaker into the now-wet dirt below him, "Eat this Laurel Nee: _SWORD OF THE STORM

-----

_A crack was heard before a flash of lightning streaked down from the sky, well defined against the blackened clouds. It hit the ground a mere second later, its landing point less than three inches from Raimundo. He looked horrified, his face slightly redder from being so close to the heat._

_"You're going to hurt somebody!" Raimundo managed to stammer, still terrified._

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n;

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	5. 5: Enter the High Priestess

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part Five: _Enter the High Priestess_

-----

"_SWORD OF THE STORM_!" Raimundo cried angrily, thrusting the sword forward and attacking.

Laurel grinned merrily and she shouted, "_RABBIT'S EARS_!", using her own Shen-Gong-Wu to dash out of the way of his attack. "You guys here at the Xiaolin Temple think that you're all that," she taunted, "But do you want to know something? You really aren't. I sort of expected more from you two. The Xiaolin Dragons of Wind and Earth, but you two really haven't done anything while I was around."

"You weren' here for long enough t' see us do anythin' real great," Clay protested coolly, "Y'all didn' even stay for more than one Showdown or we'd have really shown ya wha' we can do."

A troubled look came over Laurel's face as she listened to him and she glanced at Raimundo, who looked far more enraged than Clay. His grip on the Sword of the Storm was so tight that his knuckles were actually turning white.

"Come on, _menina_! You've gotta know that you're doing the wrong thing! So why are you doing this?" Raimundo asked, slashing the sword out in front of him to demonstrate his point.

"Why am I doing this? _Why am **I** doing this?_ You can't fool me Dragons. The question is, 'Why are **_you_** doing this?'" Laurel paused. "I thought you guys seemed nice... I thought you was the good guys and you were my friends and you wouldn't lie to me... But I was wrong and now I'm going to make sure you pay for your crimes." Laurel looked furious and shouted, "_Fonce kurayami tenebres_!" 1

"Wha' in th' world are ya doin' now, Laurel?" Clay could help questioning. He noted that the only really big things that were going on were that the smooth, round piece of obsidian at the top of her staff was now glowing a silvery-gold and a storm was beginning to stir up above them.

Well, at least now the atmosphere was right for a fight against evil.

"Forget this!" Raimundo finally yelled, his self-restraint breaking, "Clay, you go behind and get her Shen-Gong-Wu. I'm going to keep her distracted." He turned and ground one sneaker into the now-wet dirt below him, "Eat this Laurel Nee: _SWORD OF THE STORM_!" He slashed out, Laurel dodged, and she countered with her Eye of Dashi.

As much as Clay wanted to keep watching the battle and do more to support Raimundo, he knew the Third Arm Sash would be best to pull off some of Laurel's Shen-Gong-Wu and use those. What confused him was what Laurel had been saying earlier about their 'crimes'." He didn't think there was anything that they'd done. Laurel kept saying that she was all about doing what was right and fighting for justice - _so why was she fighting on the Heylin side?_

Once he had edged far enough behind Laurel that he was sure she couldn't see him any longer, he activated his Shen-Gong-Wu, shouting, "_THIRD ARM SASH_!" The sash darted out and tugged the Jet Bootsu from her feet. The sash snaked back to Clay and he snatched them up, tossing them to Raimundo. The Brazilian pulled off his sneakers and shoved his feet into the Shen-Gong-Wu, checking to see that they fit comfortably.

Meanwhile, Laurel had fallen from her place in the air and now mud was splashed over both her shoeless feet and her skirt. A half-embarrassed, half-furious look made its way onto her face and she scowled.

"You guys are going to get it now!" she told them and held up her staff. She began spinning it, almost like a baton, and the wind around them whipped up. A loud crash of thunder was heard and the entire area seemed to darken considerably. "_Sea a mhaistir_!" 2

Both Clay and Raimundo tensed up as an uncomfortable silence settled over the trio, not even the crashes of thunder or the shouts from Jack, Kimiko, and Omi's battle breaking the unusual situation. Laurel was still spinning the staff over her head, until it had begun to look like there was a large golden-white circle hovering above her. Just as Raimundo was prepared to break the silence, Laurel did it for him. She abruptly pointed the staff towards him, the obsidian on the nearer end, and whispered one simple word.

"_Trean_." 3

A crack was heard before a flash of lightning streaked down from the sky, well defined against the blackened clouds. It hit the ground a mere second later, its landing point less than three inches from Raimundo. He looked horrified, his face slightly redder from being so close to the heat. 4

"You're going to hurt somebody!" Raimundo managed to stammer, still terrified. His hands were shaking violently as he attempted to get a firmer grip on the Sword of the Storm and Helmet of Jong.

"Paging Doctor Obvious. Should you say 'duh!' or should I?" Laurel sneered back, rolling her eyes. She slammed the butt of the staff into the ground and her gaze hardened.

"Why are ya doin' this, Laurel?" Clay asked, still confused. Raimundo and Laurel both stared at him in disbelief.

"Because she's evil!" Raimundo sputtered, stumbling back and slamming Helmet of Jong on his head, "_SWORD OF THE_-"

"Hold it, partner," Clay said, stopping his friend. Their opponent looked annoyed by this interaction for some reason.

"I'm doing this because _you_ are the evil ones! Don't deny it anymore! Jack and Wuya told me everything about how you stole their Shen-Gong-Wu," she answered, flipping her golden curls over her shoulder. Now it was Clay and Raimundo who wore looks of incredulity displayed openly on their faces. Laurel raised her staff and looked like she was about to shout some more words that would lead to an attack, but Clay stopped her was another clarification.

"Y'all think we stole _their_ Shen-Gong-Wu?" he asked.

"Of course, you did!" Laurel huffed.

"Come on, _menina_! I've been there, I've done that. Wuya's a liar," Raimundo told her, "Trust me- _we_ are the good guys. _We_ are the ones who worked hard to get _our _Shen-Gong-Wu. And _they_ are the ones why stole all the Shen-Gong-Wu from _us_ a while ago and _we _got it back, fair and square."

Laurel's grip on her staff was loosening and she bit her lower lip. "Really? Like, you promise you aren't lying?" she interrogated weakly.

"Yeah, _menina!_"

"Why would we lie if we're th' good guys?" Clay added and Laurel smiled a little.

"Thank you for not lying to me," she said softly and the boys were moved towards her when Laurel's eyes hardened suddenly. The piece of obsidian at the end of her staff began emanating the silvery-gold glow much more vibrantly. She spun around, dashing towards the front of the temple where Jack, Kimiko, and Omi's battle was taking place.

Raimundo and Clay exchanged strange looks and the former shouted, "Laurel! Wait up!"

The blonde turned to face him. With her curls now wet and matted down, Laurel looked surprisingly dangerous. The eye make-up she wore had begun to run and it was obvious that the attacks she was using were taking a lot of energy out of her. "I have unfinished business here," she told them slowly. She was beginning to shake and looked like she might collapse. Raimundo stepped forward and took up her arm, placing it around his neck to help her on her way to the front of the temple. Clay followed in suit and the trio quickly made their way with both boys helping Laurel walk.

"Laurel! What are you doing with those losers? I could use some help!" Jack told her as the group rounded the corner. Laurel pulled her arms away from Raimundo and Clay and stumbled forward on her own, using her staff as somewhat of a walking stick.

"Jack Spicer," she began solemnly. Kimiko and Omi both bore confused looks and Jack looked a little annoyed. "You are on trial for charges against the _Miihallan_ high priestess of Roma Nova. Your judge will be _Miihalla _himself, called down from his eternal throne to decide your fate. Your crime is betrayal and deceit against the _Miihallan_ high priestess of Roma Nova."

Laurel stopped to lower her head and there was a crash of thunder followed by a crack of lightning in the distance. 4

"_Miihalla _has made his judgment. You will receive a second chance. Use it wisely, Jack Spicer." Laurel's eyes darkened considerably and, with a great deal of effort, she pulled up her staff and pointed it at Jack. "My name is Andrah Aquilla, daughter of General Leigh Aquilla, daughter of Juliana Aquilla, the betrothed of Prince Sebastiano Mantegna, high priestess of the Temple of _Miihalla_ in the capital of Roma Nova. You have cross my path one too many times. Go back to where you've come from and let the Xiaolin warriors be!" She paused. "Oh yeah. And Johnny? Tell Wuya that I quit."

"What the-"

"_ASAHIINEH LYASEH MIIHALLA!" _5A brilliant white-gold light enveloped the entire temple and Jack and the Xiaolin warriors attempted to shield their eyes. When the light faded, the clouds were already beginning to lighten of their own accord and Jack Spicer had disappeared, leaving a pile of Shen-Gong-Wu in his wake. The blonde girl was shaking violently and breathing harshly in the middle of the area and Kimiko was the first to move.

Grabbing Raimundo's arm and pulling him with her, Kimiko moved towards her former friend. Clay and Omi followed after them. Kimiko placed a hand on her shoulder and the blonde turned to face her. Tears were streaking down her face as she offered them a half-hearted smile.

"My name is Andrah Aquilla," she whispered, just barely audible, "And... and..."

"And what?" Omi asked.

"And I... I'm sorry." With that the Roma Novan high priestess' staff fell from her hand and clattered to the ground, Andrah collapsing in exhaustion as soon as it hit.

_**THE END (If you don't want to read the epilogue.)**_

-----

In the epilogue of **Laurel Wreath** -

_"We're going to be Dragons!" Kimiko cheered and flung her arms around Raimundo._

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1 ; 'Fonce' is French for 'dark'. 'Kurayami' is Japanese (I think) for 'darkness'. 'Tenebres' is French for 'darkness'. This refers to the fact that Laurel/Andrah is darkening the sky by summoning a huge storm.

2 ; 'Sea a mhaistir' is Gaelic. I forgot what it means. Aw well...

3 ; 'Trean' is Gaelic and it means 'strong'. I guess it's because the lightning attack is so strong? I just liked the way it sounded.

4 ; I know, I know. Lightning comes **before** thunder, but the first time it was Laurel/Andrah's magic that caused it to happen and the second time, I got lazy and wrote it incorrectly.

And then I didn't feel like changing it because it read well.

5 ; I don't even remember what language 'Asahiineh lyaseh Miihalla' is. Or what it means. It stood out in my mind for some reason, so I used it.

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a/n;

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- Roby Carr


	6. Epilogue: 'Til Death Do Us Part

"**Laurel Wreath**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Epilogue: _'Til Death Do Us Part_

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**Warning**: This chapter contains gushy, mushy, fluffy, adorable romance between Clay and Laurel the OC. If you cannot handle a bunch of Clay/OC cotton candy, then **do not **read this chapter. It is not necessary to complete the story, merely to tie up a few of the loose ends.

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_(Several years later...)_

"We're going to be Dragons!" Kimiko cheered and flung her arms around Raimundo.

All four Xiaolin warriors were now older. Omi was fifteen, Kimiko was sixteen, Raimundo was seventeen and Clay was eighteen, a full adult finally. They were all considerably changed. Raimundo and Kimiko were now dating, having gotten around to admitting they liked each other finally, and Omi had been announced as a true Master of the Xiaolin Temple on his fifteenth birthday - not that any of the others teased him any less now that he was a Master.

Two years had passed since Laurel had betrayed them and Wuya and Jack Spicer had continued to bother them as was expected. But hardly any of the warriors even remembered Laurel Nee or her betrayal.

"Y'all here tha'? We're gonna be Dragons!" Clay repeated, glancing over at the steps where a familiar curly-haired blonde sat. She was smiling detachedly - as was normal - but her expression was one of genuine happiness reflected in a pair of brilliant blue eyes. The girl nodded and she stood up, but there wasn't any need for her to head towards the Dragons. Clay had already crossed the expanse between them in a few long strides and had embraced her warmly.

"Yeah, I did," she replied softly, the calm, quiet voice yet another familiar thing about her, "I'm really proud that you guys all finally made it."

Clay grinned down at the curly, blonde head and quickly banished the ever-present memories of a time when he'd called her Laurel Nee, a false name created for the purpose of gaining their trust. But now she was Andrah Aquilla, a high priestess of Roma Nova instead of the Xiaolin Dragon of Lightning. And he was really glad about that. He was glad that Andrah had told him the truth. That Master Fung had allowed her to return to Roma Nova and finish up her business there. That she had found the courage to reject the Roma Novan crown prince's marriage proposal. That she had returned from Roma Nova and decided to train her magic at the Xiaolin Temple.

But most of all, he was glad that she was Andrah - not Laurel. Because Andrah loved him.

"You okay, cowboy?" Andrah's smooth voice asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck and glanced up at him, concerned, "You're suddenly so quiet. Is something wrong? Did I do something, Clay?"

Clay smiled and moved one hand up to ruffle her hair while he pulled her closer, "Nah. Don' worry 'bout it, Andrah. Everythin' is alrigh'. Jus' thinkin' 'bout somethin'."

"I'll go train. You guys should be celebrating, just the four of you. I wasn't especially helpful a while back-" Andrah was cut off when Clay pulled away from her and calmly placed a hand over her mouth, muffling any words.

"Andrah..." Kimiko mumbled and Raimundo's arms tightened around his girlfriend's waist. The air was suddenly tenser. Despite the fact that no one had even begun to forget Andrah's previous betrayal, it was an unspoken law that no one would bring it up.

"It is most foolish of you to think that you are still indebted to us because of this," Omi decided, fine lines appearing at the edges of his mouth when he frowned, "We have forgiven your misjudgment. You do not have any obligation to stay with us..."

Clay's eyes widened. Andrah was finally back at the temple, wrapped tightly in his arms, and now Omi was going to tell her she could leave them whenever she wanted to? But that wasn't fair! Clay'd been waiting for too long to be with Andrah and he couldn't stand having her leave now.

"I do..." the blonde girl spoke softly, glancing up and feigning a small smile, "I have an obligation to stay here because my friends are all here. My family is here."

A grin broke out on Kimiko's face. That was what she should have expected from her best friend - not that Andrah would actually leave them behind to head out into the world.

"Hey, Andrah..." Clay murmured as the conversation between Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi turned to nostalgia for their favorite Xiaolin Showdowns and Shen-Gong-Wu, "Y'all mind talkin' t' mah for a second? It's importan'." Andrah nodded and followed Clay without hesitation as he led her around to another side of the dojo.

"What's up, Clay?" she asked, smile twisted up in the way that made Clay grin every time he saw it. He was the luckiest guy alive to have a girl like Andrah and he wanted to make it permanent. He didn't want their relationship bound by just love for each other. He wanted it official.

"Andrah... Y'all know tha' we've been datin' for 'bout two years now an' Ah really care 'bout ya an' everythin'... An' Ah been thinkin' for a while 'bout this an' Ah'm mighty sure tha' this is what Ah wanna be doin'... Ah can't think of any real fancy way t' put this, so Ah'm jus' gonna ask straigh' out an' hope for the best." Clay paused and smiled charmingly as he took her hands in his. "Will ya marry mah, Andrah?"

Andrah's pretty blue eyes widened and she gasped for air for a moment, her breath suddenly gone. She looked a little like she'd been punched in the stomach and had her air knocked out of her. Clay shifted uncomfortably and his grip on her hands tightened.

"Ah don' have a ring or nothin' righ' now, but Ah'll get one as soon as Ah have the money, an' Ah can protect ya, an' Ah'm the Xiaolin Dragon of Earth, an'-" Clay was cut off as he was tugged forward, almost tripping at the sudden movement. Andrah had clasped her arms around his neck, pulling her much taller boyfriend closer to her. Clay embraced her back, a little awkwardly because he was waiting for an answer. He shifted again and pulled away from Andrah and frowned. "Andrah, it sorta took a lil' while t' get up the courage t' ask ya tha' an' it'd be mighty kind of ya t' answer."

The blonde girl laughed softly to herself and embraced him again. "Don't you worry your pretty lil' head, Clay," she giggled close to his ear, "Of course I'll marry you. I don't care what you are or what you can give me - I care who you are and how much you love me."

The cowboy smiled down at his fiancé. "Mah name is Clay an' Ah'll love y'all 'til death do us part."

"I'm glad."

_**THE END**_

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a/n; I'm sorry if this chapter is a little too 'Awww...' for everyone out there, but I was watching Win A Date With Tad Hamilton earlier today and that is without a doubt, the fluffiest movie ever filmed. I spent five minutes afterward running around my house to tell my family that I loved them. Yeah, me. Scary, huh?

There isn't much else to say yet again. Sadly (or not so sadly for those who hated this story and read it anyway), this is the last chapter. It was actually only created because I felt an extreme urge to give this story more of a happy ending and make Laurel more of Andrah instead. Plus, I totally love Clay so this is my one VERY Mary Sue-ish chapter in which I've given myself the chance to fulfill the dreams of every Clay-lovin' fangirl who has ever seen Xiaolin Showdown.

It occurred to me earlier today (well, yesterday actually) that Raimundo probably would've used the Jet Bootsu at the beginning of chapter three so he could get Laurel down from that tree, right? I didn't actually find out what the Jet Bootsu did until a couple of days ago. I was watching the Shard of Lightning episode that my cousin taped for me and BOOM! Clay was using it to do his chores. So, now I know!

Not sure what else to say.

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- Roby Carr


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